Mom Shares Honest Photos of Her Belly Before and After a C-Section

A mother of four went viral on Instagram after giving an uncensored view of what her stomach looked like before and after childbirth, and she's inspiring other people to embrace their postpartum bodies.

Shortly after giving birth to her fourth child, Australian blogger Mel Watts posted a photo on Instagram to showing her belly when she was 30 weeks pregnant and four days after her C-section.

While she acknowledged that her body has stretch marks and dimples post-childbirth, Watts said the images also helped her remember what she got to use her body for: Bringing her children into the world. "This body, this one, the one I own, gave me another life. Another small human to love and to hold," she wrote. "So many times I've doubted my body, so many times I've pinched and pulled at sections that I didn't like. In reality this body has done everything I'd ever want it to do. Sure it's not magazine or swimsuit-worthy to some. But to me and my husband, it's the place that grew our babies. It's the place that everything we love most started."

Commenters praised Watts for her honesty and for also shedding light on the side of the "post-baby body" that most people don't talk about. "[You're] amazing!! I looked just like you did after both mine!! Wish I'd seen this photo back then when I felt so isolated!! No one [sees] the mama body so many of us have because we hide it!!" one commenter wrote. Other commenters opened up about their own experiences with C-sections and how they felt postpartum.

Additionally, in an interview with Mic, Watts talked more about the standards women face all the time, including what they're "supposed to" look like before and after giving birth. "We’re made to feel like we aren’t good enough. We aren’t skinny enough, we aren’t big enough, we aren’t fit enough or we’re [too] fit," she explained. "You’ve given birth; your post-baby body may take you two weeks or a year to try and even regain. Who cares?! Enjoy the baby and what you’ve created."

Watts also posted a follow-up Instagram after receiving numerous comments, both positive and negative, in response to her side-by-side photos and what it means to be a woman with a "real" body. "I think we all need to remember no matter how fit, how unfit, how small or how large our bodies were, we are all real," she said. "We're all women who have birthed little humans and we're all just trying to do the best we can. Just like the other millions of women in the world."